SolidWorks World 2011 Twitter feed

I tried to have a twitter feed on SolidWorks Legion for SolidWorks World 2010 back in 2009.   That didn’t turn out well for various reasons.  Well, I’m going it a try again.  I’ve copied the twitter feed (Yahoo! Pipes) that appears at SolidWorks World Connent.  It’s modified to include both hashtags #SWW11 and #SolidWorks.  It is currently up and running on the right side menu.  If all goes well, I’ll have this twitter feed up until after SolidWorks World 2011 next year.

SolidWorks World 2011 Connect

SolidWorks World 2011 Connect

Even though SolidWorks World 2011 is quite a number of months away, SolidWorks Corp wishes to keep everyone in-the-know.  SolidWorks World 2011 Connect is on the SolidWorks website.  The new webpage features feeds from Twitter hashtag #SWW11, many SolidWorks blogs, and the SolidWorks World forum.

Even for the casual reader, this aggregation webpage may be a good one-stop location to see whats going in the realm of SolidWorks World 2011.  There is content that will be relatable for most types of SolidWorks users.

  • The Twitter feeds tend to be live and very lively.
  • The blogs are usually in depth with a lot of helpful information.
  • The forums are a good place to interact with the online SolidWorks community for questions and answers.

Hotels on KAYAK for San Antonio, TX SolidWorks World 2011

There’s a funny commercial from Priceline.com where William Shatner plays his own evil twin who tries to talk someone into booking through a website that is offering a sale by declaring, “it’s a sa-ell; nothing beats a sa-ell.”

This is a sly reference to a Star Trek episode where Kirk did indeed have an evil twin.

As far as getting good prices for rooms and flights for SolidWorks World 2011, be sure to shop around.  If bidding on rooms and flights isn’t your thing, then check out KAYAK.  It provides alerts via email when deals that fit your criteria become available from almost any other travel site.

Also, be aware that business travel is more complex in these times of airline baggage fees, carry on bag fees, handling fees, overweight fees, Groundhog Day fees, unleavened bread fees, etc.  Many travel agencies simply will not handle baggage and other particular fees, which leaves the traveller to pay when they arrive at the airport.   Reimbursement for these on-the-spot fees from your company can be a serious pain.  Have you ever tried collecting credit card interest from an employer?  It’s next to impossible.

So, travellers should be cautious and frugal.  Plan ahead for any trips.  It’s hard to believe that SolidWorks World 2011 is so near.  Didn’t we just get done with 2010?

SolidWorks World 2011 registration is open!

SolidWorks World 2011

Registration for SolidWorks World 2011 is open!  It will be held in San Antonio, TX at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, from Jan 23 to Jan 26, 2011.  There is a special deal for those who register prior to October 29, 2010.

As usual, information is available on the website to help potential attendees write a justification letter to their management.  Included this year is a somewhat superficial video that may help grab the attention and interest of a boss.

SolidWorks World 2011 video

As with previous years, a free CSWA or CSWP exam is offered at the time registration for a Full Conference Pass.  Prices for Conference passes are the same as last year (and the year before that, and the year before that).

And don’t forget to check out some ideas for things to do in San Antonio, TX.

Doing SolidWorks World 2011 right

The first year I went to SoildWorks World was 2008, as an attendee.  I had a full schedule of breakout sessions that I attended.  Having started SolidWorks Legion in 2007, this was a great opportunity to review a large number of these sessions.  My reviews of SolidWorks World 2008 were spread out in many articles over the month of February 2008.  These articles where written at my leisure, with no stress or time constraint.

SolidWorks World 2009 was very different for me.  I was invited as Press.  Though I did create a personal breakout session schedule, I missed most of those sessions.  My time was occupied by press events, interviews, very late evenings, etc, and the fact that I was trying to write my articles within the time-frame of the convention.  I was running on fumes by the last day of the trip.

My plan for SolidWorks World 2010 was about the same as last year, except that I wasn’t going to push myself quite as hard to write articles so quickly.  This year, I again had a full schedule of breakout sessions planned.  I then overlaid meetings, press conferences, writing blocks and interviews over that schedule.  As a result, I was double-booked for almost every time block.  Even though I originally planned to attend more breakout sessions this year, I ended up only going to 3 and 1/2 sessions; which was one session less than last year.  Plus, I was still trying write my articles within the week of the convention.

This was a mistake.  For my blog readers, articles about James Cameron’s press conference might be entertaining, but it doesn’t really represent the SolidWorks World that most people experience.  I still want to write those articles, of course.  More importantly, I want to write reviews about the breakout sessions and more products at Partner Pavilion.  To me, these are the main reasons to attend SolidWorks World (or to read about it).  If I am invited as Press to SolidWorks World 2011, my plan is going to be a bit different.

I still intend to layout a full schedule of breakout sessions.  I still intend to do interviews and attend meetings, though I will attempt to place these in timeslots that do not interfere with breakout sessions.  Each day, I will write about the big news of that day.   The difference is that I plan to space out the rest of my articles throughout the month that follows SolidWorks World 2011.  Instead of hurrying in-and-out the Press Room, I plan to attend more of the breakout sessions.

Hopefully, the quality of my articles will improve.  This year, I had way too many typos that required fixing after being published.  I also want to write some articles that are more in-depth and researched.  For many topics, this cannot be done while at the convention.  Also, I like to pepper my articles with appropriate links and photos, along with interesting formatting.  These are hard to accomplish when I’m rushed.

Well, we’ll see how it goes.  Hopefully I’m invited back to carry out my new plans. 🙂